Cybersecurity is a growing industry. Each week it seems that more businesses are experiencing cyber attacks, including Colonial Pipeline and meat supplier JBS just last week. Growth in the industry has led Austin-based Brinqa to raise $110 million. The funding round announced on Tuesday marks the first time Brinqa has raised outside capital.
Founded in 2009, Brinqa is a cybersecurity risk management platform for mid-to-large size organizations. The company’s data-driven platform identifies security gaps on various devices and helps address potential risks. Brinqa works with businesses in a variety of industries ranging from healthcare and higher education to retailers, airlines and financial services.
Cybersecurity’s recent growth is attributable to people working from home and an increase in awareness about online protection, Amad Fida, CEO and co-founder of Brinqa, told Built In.
“As you can imagine, cybersecurity is such an important role or function within an organization today,” Fida said. “With this sort of a digital transformation and the way most organizations or companies run their business today, it’s a need for pretty much everybody that’s out there. It’s becoming a very foundational and essential platform or solution to have in-house.”
The Series A round was funded by Insight Partners. This recent funding will be used for international growth. About 80 percent of Brinqa customers are located in the U.S. with the rest based in Europe. Fida said he plans to further expand in Europe and begin working with customers in Japan and Australia.
The fresh funding will also be used to hire additional staff. The company, which currently has roughly 50 employees in Austin, is actively hiring 11 people. Fida said he expects “exponential growth” in the next 12 to 18 months.
“We’re looking to expand all of our teams across departments,” he said. “Sales and marketing [are] going to be our number one focus, but then that follows with our customer success and our R&D and all the supporting functions that allow us to deliver our services. ... We’re expecting a significant increase in our employee base and the majority of it’s going to be Austin-based.”
Brinqa was co-founded by Fida and Hilda Perez — two cybersecurity industry veterans who have experience building and leading startups through growth and acquisitions, according to a news release. Headquartered in Austin, Brinqa has remote staff and offices in San Francisco, New York, Bangalore and Buenos Aires.
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